Johnson, the Philadelphia Eagles' defensive coordinator, has never had to prepare for a game against a quarterback as fast and mobile as Vick.

The Eagles (12-4) play Vick and the Atlanta Falcons (10-6-1) in an NFC divisional playoff tonight.

''When I saw the game against Green Bay, I didn't sleep that night,'' Johnson said, referring to Atlanta's 27-7 victory over the Packers in a wild-card game last week.

''The guy is different. This guy is a special, special player. There's no ifs, ands or buts. You watch film on him and he's just going to keep getting better. It's not fun.''

Vick led all NFL quarterbacks with 777 yards rushing this season and scored eight touchdowns. He also passed for 2,936 yards and 16 TDs.

Against Green Bay, Vick threw for just 117 yards and one TD, but he rushed 10 times for 64 yards, and turned several sure sacks into big plays. He also became the first visiting quarterback to win a playoff game at Lambeau Field.

''I've never seen him in person,'' Johnson said. ''Until you really see a guy in person, you're going to see what kind of a great athlete he is and what kind of speed he has. Besides his speed, he's got unbelievable quickness. I've never seen a guy that can change direction so fast and make guys look funny, make guys look silly and embarrass guys.''

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Tampa Bay had the most success against Vick this season, limiting him to 125 yards passing and just 15 yards rushing in the Buccaneers' 34-10 win on Dec. 8. But the Bucs have quicker, faster players on defense than the Eagles.

Johnson plans to use rookie cornerback Sheldon Brown in certain situations instead of middle linebacker Levon Kirkland to add more speed on defense and try to neutralize Vick.

''They have a lot of quick people on Tampa's defense. They were able to contain him,'' Johnson said. ''You can't just have one guy, you have to have a lot of people around him, a lot of quick people around him.''

Some teams designate one player for Vick. The New York Giants had success doing that against Donovan McNabb. But Johnson isn't sure if that philosophy will work.

''You might say you have a spy on this guy, but all of a sudden that spy is not good enough. You might need three spies. That's how good he is,'' Johnson said. ''He has such great speed and great quickness and great balance.

''I've seen the guy have linemen around him that think he's knocked down and he keeps his feet. We'll have to see how it goes. We have several things we're going to do and they probably are anticipating that. It's just not a situation where I think he's going to run every down. He's a good thrower, too.''

Linebacker Shawn Barber thinks the Eagles have to stick with the same defensive scheme they've used all season. Philadelphia's defense ranked No. 4 overall.

''We're going to attack him, we're going to go play Eagles football and play our style of football and not change it,'' Barber said. ''Usually, when you change things and try to prepare for only one player, you end up getting beat in other phases of the game.''

Instead of backup quarterback Koy Detmer, the Eagles used practice squad quarterback Tee Martin to play Vick's role on the scout team this week. Martin is much faster than Detmer, and was better able to simulate Vick.

''It's going to be a challenge, and I love challenges,'' All-Pro safety Brian Dawkins said. ''But you don't really need anything to get you pumped this week.''